Honda City effect: Hyundai India to launch Verna CX Diesel variant

Snapshot: To counter the well-priced 2014 Honda City sedan in India, South Korean car maker Hyundai plans to add the CX variant of the Verna Fluidic Diesel. The new variant will be sit between the EX and SX variants,  seeking to drive car buyers into Hyundai showrooms.

The recently launched 2014 Honda City C-Segment sedan has sent competition into a tizzy what with it’s competitive pricing backed by Honda’s movement away from its premium pricing strategy. The market leader in India’s C-Segment sedan space is the Hyundia Verna Fluidic, a crown that it bagged from the previous generation City about 3 years ago.

Honda Cars India is keen to retake the crown and that explains the heavily localized 2014 City. To avoid losing sales to the 2014 Honda City, Hyundai is readying up a new variant that will sit between the entry-level EX and the SX variants.

Click here to read about the Hyundai Verna Diesel’s recently introduced SX(O) top end variant.

Dubbed the CX, the new Hyundai Verna variant will be powered by the 1.4 liter CRDI turbo diesel engine that also powers the i20. The 1.4 liter turbo diesel engine outputs 89 Bhp-220 Nm, and is currently available only on the base and EX variants of the Verna diesel.

By adding a CX variant, replete with a greater amount of kit, Hyundai plans to wean away some prospective 2014 City Diesel car buyers. The Verna is also available with a higher powered 1.6 liter turbo diesel engine (126 Bhp-250 Nm) and a 1.6 liter VTVT petrol engine (121 Bhp-155 Nm).

All diesel engines get a 6 speed manual gearbox as standard while the petrol engine gets a 5 speed manual gearbox. The 1.6 liter petrol and diesel engines are also available with a 4 speed automatic gearbox as an option. Here’s a round up on what’s likely to make it to the Verna CX Diesel’s features list:

• 2 DIN Audio with Bluetooth
• Steering mounted audio controls
• Automatic climate control
• ABS+EBD
• Twin airbags
• Electric adjust and automatic folding functions for wing mirrors
• Rear parking camera and parking sensors